Snowflake is Found!

Anyone who has friended me on Facebook followed me through our Snowflake ordeal yesterday.

It was quite the adventure I must say.

To start at the beginning, Tuesday afternoon we came home from the library to find the hamster cage in about six pieces on the floor, bedding everywhere, and the hamster was nowhere to be found.

I was quite sure she was gone for good. My biggest worry was how to find a little corpse somewhere before it started to stink (I know, morbid thought).

I started painting our living room (stay tuned next Tuesday) so I had to move the couch several times. The entire time, Minnie (our cat) was hovered around the bottom of the couch. We assumed that meant that Snowflake was somewhere in the couch. But I was worried that I had squished her from moving it so many times.

While painting, I found quite a few "droppings" against the wall behind whee the couch was and was feeling hopeful.

Then Thursday night, our bedroom had a stinky smell and I made Steve (my hubby) search the entire bedroom, including under all of the clothes for our tragic end to the story. Thankfully, nothing turned up.


SO when I woke up Thursday morning trying to prepare for a garage sale and Deb coming over with two of her three girls, I wasn't ready for the adventure that was awaiting me in the kitchen.

As I let Minnie into the kitchen (we put her in the basement at night), she beelined for the dishwasher. Let me just add that our dishwasher stopped working about six months ago and the only reason I haven't let Steve dispose of it is so that I have more counter space.

After watching her hover, I went and filled a small plate of hamster food in the off chance that Snowflake might indeed still be alive.

I moved the dishwasher out to discover a good size pile of fluff, with droppings mixed in. I knew we were on the right track.

Then , I heard rusting inside.

She was actually still alive and I knew where she was!


As I sat at the computer writing a facebook update, I turned around and saw a little nose peek out. At that point, things were definitely more hopeful so I called Noah in to try to lure her out. He was so excited at the prospect of his little friend returning.














My next step was to call Steve and find out how to actually take the dishwasher apart. After removing a few screws, the bottom front panel came off and we were able to see Snowflake at all times, making her capture even more imminent.









After awhile, I tried lifting the dishwasher, though fearing that I would squish her. I proceeded anyway. While Noah lied underneath with a flashlight making sure she was safe, I lifted the dishwasher. She started to run out and Noah almost caught her when she ran under our cabinets right next to the dishwasher.



The end was almost in sight. She kept popping back out. This time, I grabbed two cookie sheets and formed a triangle to "trap" her and Noah was finally able to grab her and return her safely to her abode.













Later as I went to check in her, I learned that Winter White Hamsters actually "scream" at you when they're scared. I went out to the pet store to make sure this was normal, which relieved me since I was worried that we had scarred her for life.

At this writing, she still has not eaten, which again has me worried and she has also not come out of her self-made burrow all day. I hope she returns to her social nature in a day or two, and I hope she was not sickened or harmed in any way during her adventure. For such a little creature, she really has become a part of our family quickly.

Have a great weekend. It looks like it's going to be a busy one for us.

See you on Monday with my recap.